Early Influences

Being surrounded by musicians in the family was what inspired me to learn how to play musical instruments, specifically the guitar.  My grandparents, uncles and cousins were able to play the piano and the guitar.  And I wanted to be able to play the songs that I enjoyed listening to.

The Musical Experience

I am the type of person who likes to do instead of watch someone else do it. I want to be able to experience music and not just listen to it.  There is something magical, soothing and relaxing, when an instrument vibrates and creates a series of wonderful sounds from notes, projecting an amazing rush through the body, penetrating heart and soul.  You are no longer a spectator but a part of the music itself.

Basic Chords

My uncle got me started when he handed me a guitar and taught me three basic chords  – A, D, and E.   These three chords are simple enough to learn, since they use only three fingers on the 1^st and 2^nd frets.  These chords are a combination of 3 strings pressed and 3 strings opened, which would then produce a harmony of synced notes.  And with these three basic chords, I was able to play a lot of songs, including Beatles songs, which I enjoyed playing.  I was just doing simple rhythmic strumming with the song tempo.

Chord Progression

I teamed up with my cousins who also were learning at that time.  We had an instant band, holding “jam sessions” every opportunity we could.  And from those basic chords, I started looking up other chords from a chart that song books (compilation of music sheets) provided.  I expanded my vocabulary of chords, which led to more complex music.  And with more practice, whether playing along the actual songs or singing along with my guitar, I was able to learn the techniques with smoother chord transitions and progression, shifting from one chord to another, following the flow of the song.

Guitar Lessons

After learning guitar chords, I then started taking video classical guitar lessons.  This series of lessons articulated the plucking of individual strings, therefore more emphasis on individual sounds/notes, as opposed to the one strummed sound of chords.  But this lesson also put into perspective that these notes make up the chords.  This meant that when you play the main melody of the song (classical approach), the harmony background is a series of chords that I learned first.  I was then able to put the two together, enabling me to be more versatile in playing a range of music genres.  It also allowed me to improvise and play as I hear and as I feel.

Continuous Learning

I have not and will never be done learning and improving in my guitar playing.  There is so much music to play from which gives me so much inner joy.  Now, I have the opportunity to teach and pass this skill and art of guitar playing to my sons.

Keys to Learning

My approach to learning to play the guitar was to simply take the following steps:

• Learn basic chords using charts and diagrams: dots mean you press the strings and no dots mean you keep them open, then strum all 6 strings.
• Learn rhythmic strumming with tempo: up down pattern or up, up down pattern, etc.
• Practice transition from chord to chord for continuity and music flow
• Learn plucking of individual string, in an arpeggio pattern for effects.
• Expand chord vocabulary. One new chord a week. Example: A to Am.

(About the author: Brian plays the piano, and guitar. During his high school days he played the clarinet for the band. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Botany, he became a high school instructor teaching Biology and Chemistry.)

Musical Experience

Listening to music has always been the most enjoyable and uplifting experience for me since my youth. If you sing and accompany yourself with a musical instrument the musical experience reaches a higher level of enjoyment and spiritual uplift. The music I enjoy – rock and roll, pop, jazz and ballad – are mostly played with guitar music.

Play the Music

For me to sing and replicate the music I enjoy, I decided at an early age of about 7 years to learn to play the ukulele. Problem was that my fingers were too small at that age. The closest thing to a guitar that I could play with my small fingers was the ukulele. So, I started to learn to play the ukulele by imitating my friends and relatives who knew how to play it.
By the time I was 9 years old, my fingers were big enough to tackle the guitar.

Transition

Transitioning from ukulele to guitar is simple. The chord fingering for the four string ukulele is the same for the guitar except that you add more notes (or fingers) to utilize the 6 strings of the guitar.

Just like in my ukulele days, I learned to play the guitar by imitating guitar-playing people, buying guitar music literature (only guitar chord diagrams where available at that time)and by experimenting by myself how to form chords or play melodies until I could produce the same musical sound as the music I heard from radio or records.

Playing by Ear
This exercise in experimenting with guitar chords and melodies until one gets the right sound is actually the basis for learning to play guitar by ear.
Once you memorize these sounds and become skillful at playing about 12 guitar chords, you could easily accompany yourself or play with your group in singing most of your favorite songs. Most rock and roll, pop music or ballads can be played with just three to four chords. These same chords can be moved down or up the neck of the guitar with the same fingering to match key changes in the song.

Basic Chords

There lies the beauty and popularity of the guitar. By just learning three to four chords (easily done in an hour), you could already play a good number of popular songs like Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells, Silent Night, La Bamba, Johnny B Goode, Jail House Rock, Blue Suede Shoes, Jail House Rock, Blowing in the Wind, Love Me Do, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Satisfaction, etc. Most rock and roll, blues, country and folk music can be played with just three to four guitar chords.

Imagine yourself being a rock star or country music star like Elvis Presley or John Denver by just playing songs with three to four guitar chords. I was playing guitar and singing like Elvis Presley when I got hooked on the guitar when I was about 9 years old.

Hooked on Guitar

Once you learn how to strum the chords of your favorite songs, you will be hooked with the guitar and be hooked for life.

(About the author: Frank plays pop, jazz and classical guitar. He is in demand for his guitar playing by music bands, friends, the church, for social functions in his community and other venues.  A mechanical engineer by profession, he is an entrepreneur, owns his trading company supplying refrigeration equipment for the food and fishing industries. He owns a vast collection of electric and acoustic guitars gathered from his extensive travels in Europe, the USA and Asia.)   

Why Play Guitar

Guitars, they say, are easy to start learning to play but the most difficult to master.  Among string instruments it is portable in most of its variations – from the smallest ukulele to the upright bass fiddle.  It is this portability that makes it handy and readily available to play whenever one feels like it anytime, anywhere.

Started With Ukuleles

With these advantages over another string instrument, the piano, my brothers, the guitar gurus of my life, developed a passion and a growing musical career with the guitar early in life.  This came about when our father brought home a ukulele from one of his out-of-town sales calls. They plucked and strummed the uke with the pop hit songs played on AM radio.  They moved on to playing steel-string acoustic guitars bought from a noted guitar maker from the province where my father’s ancestors came from in the Philippines.

Playing With A Band

Their talents were soon recognized as they played in our family’s parties as a small band.  I joined them, without a guitar, just singing back up.  I didn’t care if I was in or out of tune or if they even heard my voice at all. As long as I could catch a few of the coins the relatives threw us after an Elvis song or a Christmas carol, I was happy with money to spend for snacks and soda.

Moving on, my brothers in their teen years joined a band with our older uncles who had enough financial backing to buy electric guitars, amplifiers, and a drum set.

They became experienced guitar players with performances at parties, political rallies, and even once on TV. Soon I realized I wanted to play like them or at least learn the basics of playing the guitar.

My First Lessons

So I got my first guitar lessons from my brother.  He showed me how to play basic chords. The A, D and E keys were the easiest to play since the finger positions for pressing the strings between the frets were ergonomically simple.   The fingers on the other hand plucked and strummed the guitar strings, of course. I very quickly accumulated calluses on my fingertips from applying pressure on the steel strings, not to mention the pain this caused on the skin and flesh under my nails.  My brother insisted that the pain and calluses would work to my advantage because it forced me to position the fingers properly on each string with enough pressure to generate the right sound for each chord I strummed and picked.  The calluses were worth it since it eventually made it easy to play with nylon strings or any type of string instrument.

My Guitar Guru

In the previous blog my brother, my guitar guru or maestro, tells us how he got started playing the guitar.